David John Bryant (27 October 1931 – 27 August 2020) was a three-times World (outdoors) singles bowls champion (in 1966, 1980 and 1988), a three-times World indoors singles champion (in 1979, 1980 and 1981) and a four times

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

singles gold medallist. He is generally considered to be the greatest bowler of all time, winning 19 World and Commonwealth gold medals in total.

The beginning

Born into a bowling dynasty, his grandfather was a founder member of the Clevedon Bowling Club in Chapel Hill, Clevedon, North Somerset. His father, Reginald Bryant, won three national fours rinks titles. David joined the club when he was 16 and during his first season with the club he won the Clevedon Bowls handicap.

Bowls career

World Outdoor Championships

He won the inaugural World Outdoor singles title at

Kyeemagh Kyeemagh ( ) is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, on the western shore of Botany Bay. Kyeemagh is in the local government area of the Ba ...

in 1966 and went on to win five gold medals (three singles, one triples and one team). He won eleven medals in total (three more silver and three more bronze), from 1966 until 1988.

Commonwealth Games

Bryant claimed a double gold medal at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth in both the singles and fours. This was the catalyst for four singles gold medals and five gold Commonwealth Games gold medals in total. The singles golds were in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, 1974 and 1978. No bowls competition was held at the 1966 Commonwealth Games which arguably stopped Bryant from winning a fifth.

World Indoor Championships

Bryant also reached legendary status indoors after winning nine World Championships, three in singles and six in the pairs with Tony Allcock.

National

Bryant also helped his county win the Middleton Cup on numerous occasions, where among his Somerset teammates was former Scottish League international footballer Bobby Black. In addition to the Middleton Cup victories he was crowned National Champion on 16 occasions for Somerset. *Singles - 1960, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975 *Pairs - 1965, 1969, 1970 *Triples - 1966, 1977, 1985 *Fours - 1957, 1968, 1969, 1971

Awards

In the

1969 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1969 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

, Bryant was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) for services to bowls. He was promoted to

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours, again for services to bowls.

Personal life

Bryant was born in

Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, on 27 October 1931 and died on 27 August 2020, aged 88. He was famous for smoking a

tobacco pipe A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simp ...

whilst playing, and in 1986 was honoured with the award for

Pipe Smoker of the Year Pipe Smoker of the Year was an award given out annually by the British Pipesmokers' Council, to honour a famous pipe-smoking individual. Initiated in 1965 as Pipeman of the Year by the Briar Pipe Trade Association, it was presented at a lunch in ...

. His father Reginald Bryant won three National fours/rinks titles.

Bibliography

Bryant wrote many books on the subject of bowls, including: *''Bryant on Bowls — Outdoor & Indoor'' 1966 *''Bowl with Bryant'' 1984 *''The Game of Bowls'' (co-authored with David Rhys Jones) 1990 *''Bowl to Win'' (co-authored with Tony Allcock) 1994

References

External links

David Bryant on the Somerset Bowls Association website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, David J. English male bowls players English people of Welsh descent People from Clevedon 1931 births 2020 deaths Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Bowls players at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Bowls World Champions Commonwealth Games medallists in lawn bowls Indoor Bowls World Champions